After finalizing the strategic plan to go north to block Xiang Kang, Liu Laosan, who acted decisively, immediately took action, and when he had just taken Nanjun and had a firm foothold, he divided the army of the Nanyang Army in Nanjun into two on the same day, and handed over half of it to Han Xin, who had been reused, and let Han Xin lead the north.

In addition, Liu Laosan, Han Xin and others, of course, had to make a big splash, claiming that the Nanyang Army was dividing its troops to the north this time in order to take advantage of the weakness to attack the Han army's Sanchuan key place, cut off the main force of the Han army and the main road connection in the rear of Guanzhong, and also cooperate with the military operation launched by the Western Chu Army on the northern front battlefield.

In addition, after obtaining the temporary control of the native Nanyang and the Korean army, Han Xin sent people to the north early, transferred grain and grass to Xiangcheng for hoarding, and prepared ships in the area of Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, recruited sailors, and pretended to transport grain from Rushui to Liang County, and directly enter the hinterland of Sanchuan from the weak point of the Han army.

Also, Liu Laosan naturally had to send someone to contact the Liji Department of the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army currently stationed in Deng County, and asked Liji, who was responsible for preventing the Han Army in Hanzhong before that, to lead the army to the north and help Han Xin stab Xiang Kang in the back, Li Ji saw that Liu Laosan's move was to share the pressure for Xiang Yu, so he naturally agreed, and was ready to set off early, and the Nanyang Army led by Han Xin had just crossed the Han River, and Li Ji immediately joined forces with him, and joined forces to the north with great momentum.

At the same time, the Han army, which was closely watching the Nanyang Army and the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army, of course, also sent information on the movements of the Nanyang Army and the Western Chu Army to Hanzhong through various channels as quickly as possible, and reported to Li Shang, the general of the Han Army, who was responsible for containing the Nanyang Army and the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army.

Human nature, as Han Xin expected, learned that the Nanyang Army actually divided its troops to the north, and the Southern Line Corps of the Western Chu Army, which had previously held the Hanshui Channel, also coordinated to the north, Li Shang also immediately felt that his opportunity was coming, and couldn't help but say in his heart: "There is a chance, the Nanyang Bandit Army covets the land of Linjiang, refuses to withdraw all of them to the mainland, and uses all the troops for the northern front operation, their hinterland will definitely be empty, if I grasp this opportunity, I suddenly send troops from Wuguan to kill the hinterland of the Nanyang Bandit Army, Not only can it turn the hinterland of the Nanyang Thief Army upside down, but there may also be hope to cut off the north-south connection of the Nanyang Thief Army, and create opportunities for our main force to break the Nanyang Thief Army! ”

It was precisely because he saw such an opportunity, coupled with the desperate instigation of Yingbu, who was eager to recapture his homeland, that when the distance from Xiang Kang was too far, Li Shang did not have time to ask Xiang Kang for instructions, but only discussed with the Han army's Hanzhong County Shoucangpi, and immediately began to prepare for a surprise attack, planning to decisively send troops from Wuguan as long as the opportunity appeared, take advantage of the false to enter the local hinterland of the Nanyang army, and stab the Nanyang army in the back!

At this point, Han Xin's strategic plan has actually succeeded for the most part, and the rest is just deliberately exposing flaws, and then using a little strategy to throw bricks and lead jade or snakes out of the hole, it is not difficult to lure the Li Shang, who has long been idle and uncomfortable, into the hinterland of Nanyang, and open up the battlefield in the hinterland of Nanyang, which is currently the most unfavorable for the Han army. However......

However, Han Xin made a lot of calculations, but he undercalculated the most important point, that is, the main force of the Han army and the anti-Han coalition army would decide the victory or defeat on the northern front so quickly, let alone calculate that the anti-Han coalition army would be defeated so miserably, before Xiang Yu arrived to the rescue, the three main forces of Zhao Qichu were wiped out together, and the remnants of the isolated Jibei Army could only obediently take the initiative to flee for their lives, and naturally they would not know that the main forces of the two major corps of the Han army could free up their hands so quickly and gain sufficient time and strength to deal with changes in the rear.

Of course, this point is definitely not Han Xin's incompetence, it is the limitations of the times that limit Han Xin's thinking, Han Xin is no matter how smart and wise, he never dreamed that in front of the counterweight trebuchet that appeared more than 1,500 years in advance, the Julu City Defense that had blocked Zhang Han's 400,000 troops would be so vulnerable, and Julu City was taken by the Han army in just one day, which then caused a chain reaction, causing the main force of Qi Chu to collapse quickly. And Han Xin's omission is also destined to add countless variables to the strategic plan he formulated for Liu Laosan......

However, it can't be said that Han Xin has no chance at all, limited by the speed of road traffic and information transmission in this era, it was more than 20 days after the end of the Julu War, Xiang Kang received an urgent report from the rear, knowing that Liu Laosan sent troops to the north, and because it also took time to find out the news in detail with the Han army, Xiang Kang just knew that Liu Laosan sent Han Xin to lead nearly 20,000 Nanyang troops to the north, and the southern line corps of the Western Chu Army also helped Han Xin. I didn't have time to know Han Xin's march route and attack target, let alone whether Liu Laosan would have follow-up actions, and whether there would be a follow-up Nanyang army going north.

But this is enough, the light is just Han Xin's name, Xiang Kang couldn't help but shout luck, and said in a loud voice: "Fortunately, fortunately, fortunately, we have already established a victory on the northern front, and we have not been entangled by the Western Chu thief army and other thief armies, and there is no problem in withdrawing back to the rear, otherwise, we will be in big trouble!" ”

"Liu Ji is really a masterpiece!" Zhang Liang, who had outstanding strategic vision, couldn't help but praise: "Yingbu's main force has been broken by him, the whole territory of Linjiang is at his fingertips, and Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan next to him, is weak and can be destroyed with a hand, such two big pieces of fat are placed in front of him, he can still restrain his greed, and would rather slow down the speed of swallowing these two pieces of fat, but also decisively choose to send troops north to help the Western Chu thief army, such a vision and courage, except for you the King of Han, I am afraid that there is no second person in the world who can catch up!" is the king of Western Chu, who dominates the world, and compared with him in this regard, it is far inferior! ”

"It's also fortunate that my brother can't even match half of his strategic courage, otherwise, we would have been so easy where we are now?"

Xiang Kang smiled, and then issued an order without hesitation, so that the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army immediately began to prepare for a retreat south, and decided to personally lead the Zheng Bu Corps to retreat to Puyang, and join forces with the Long Ji, Ding Ji and other armies stationed there, and then return to Sanchuan to personally preside over the war with Han Xin - in the face of Han Xin, except for Uncle Zhou, who is currently unable to get out, Xiang Kang is the only person who dares to believe himself.

Then, Xiang Kang sent someone to call Uncle Zhou in front of him, first told Uncle Zhou about the situation on the southern front, and then instructed Uncle Zhou: "General Zhou, after I leave, all the battlefields on the northern front will be entrusted to you." If my brother, the king of Xichu, can't hold his breath and sends troops from the plains to counterattack Julu, you will resolutely defend it for me and drag him into a war of attrition. If my brother is lured back to the middle of the battlefield, you will act at the opportunity, go north when you should go north, go east when you should go east, and you must give me to pacify the remnants of the enemy on the northern front as soon as possible. ”

"The king is at ease." Uncle Zhou replied: "The king trusts his subordinates so much, and his subordinates are all brains, and they will never let the king down." ”

Uncle Zhou never had Xiang Kang worry about the war, so Xiang Kang naturally didn't say anything, and after a few words of encouragement, he was extremely relieved to entrust all the battlefields on the northern front to Uncle Zhou. On the contrary, Uncle Zhou seemed to be a little uneasy about Xiang Kang, and after taking over the burden of the northern front, Uncle Zhou hesitated for a moment, and suddenly said to Xiang Kang: "King, do you think it's a little strange about the Nanyang thief army sending troops to the north?" ”

"What's strange there?" Xiang Kang asked a little puzzled, and said: "Most of our main forces are on the battlefield of Zhaodi, Liu Ji sent troops north to attack our hinterland at this time, and surrounded Wei to save Zhao to share the pressure for the Western Chu thief army. ”

"Surviving Wei to save Zhao is indeed the right thing for a soldier." Uncle Zhou said with some frowns: "But Liu Ji and the king, you are worried about that Han Xin, it is impossible not to consider such a question?" With their current strength, even if they resolutely send troops north, the threat they can pose to us will not be too great, as long as we divide our troops back in time to reinforce them, we can easily stop them and let them return in vain. Liu Ji and Han Xin are so benevolent and righteous, selfless, and they don't want any benefits just to help the Western Chu thief army? ”

"This is also the terrible thing about Liu Ji." Xiang Kang said without thinking about it: "He knows very well that once the Western Chu Thief Army is destroyed, our next goal will only be that he will not be someone else, and if he wants to save himself, he can only help the Western Chu Thief Army defeat us with all his might, so even if sending troops to the north is destined to be in vain, he will only choose to send troops, and will not watch us defeat the Western Chu Thief Army in order to preserve his strength." ”

The information of the Nanyang Army known from Xiang Kang's mouth was very limited, and like Xiang Kang, he still didn't know the target of the Nanyang Army, no matter how capable Uncle Zhou was, of course, he couldn't guess the true intentions of Liu Laosan and Han Xin, so he could only nod and agree with Xiang Kang's opinion. However, in Uncle Zhou's heart, there was always a question, and he said secretly: "Is it really that simple? The Nanyang thief army has little food and is short of food, and has to be responsible for supplying 30,000 Western Chu army with military money and food, at such a big cost, is the Nanyang thief army really just to encircle Wei and save Zhao to share the pressure for the Western Chu army? ”

The matter is not over, during the preparation for the south, Xiang Kang also did another immoral thing, the cause was that Xiang Kang's guard captain Xu Ji had a whim, and in Xiang Kang's spare time, he suggested that Xiang Kang use Feng Zhong's wife and children brought from Pengcheng to make some trouble, and use Lu Pheasant and others as a threat to force Liu Laosan to make concessions on the battlefield. Although Xiang Kang, whose history has not yet been sparse to the extreme, shook his head with a smile, he finally remembered Liu Laosan's family members who had been detained in the army, so he casually ordered that Liu Laosan's family members be escorted to meet him.

As a literate and moral modern five-good young man, after meeting, Xiang Kang certainly did not threaten to cook Liu Taigong like Xiang Yu, on the contrary, he comforted Liu Laosan's family members as much as possible, patted his chest and promised that he would not embarrass them. Then when Mrs. Liu's family was in shock, Xiang Kang began to have bad ideas, thinking about how to use Liu Laosan's family to make some articles, and then quickly noticed Liu Laosan's daughter Liu Le.

Thanks to Lu Pheasant's blessing, Liu Le's appearance is quite standard, but unfortunately he is too young and less than ten years old, Xiang Kang is not only a brother and brother to Liu Laosan, but the only son Xiang Zhi is still too young, so Xiang Kang racked his brains, he could only think of Ding Li, the younger brother of Ding Ji, the general under his command, and immediately called Ding Li, who was roughly the same age as Liu Le, and pointed out Liu Leqiang to Ding Li as his wife with a wicked smile. Although Lu Pheasant and the others knew that Xiang Kang was uneasy and kind, their thin arms couldn't twist their thick thighs, so they could only swallow their anger and agree.

"Then thank you sister-in-law, Ding Li, why don't you give your aunt (mother-in-law) a gift? Also, sister-in-law, rest assured, Liu Fei and Liu Ying, the two nephews, their family affairs are also wrapped up in this king, and when this king chooses a suitable person for them, he will definitely arrange a good family affair for them! ”

After smiling evilly, in addition to paying out of his own pocket for his younger brother Na Chengji, he naturally had to order the news to be announced, so that his overlord cousin Xiang Yu knew - Brother, your hardcore ally Liu Laosan is now a relative of our Han Army, do you dare to rest assured of him, you can do it yourself!

After experiencing this episode, two days later, the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army completed the preparations for departure as ordered, and under the personal leadership of Xiang Kang, the camp was raised, and retreated along the Chi Road to Puyang.

Finally finished the politeness, Xiang Kang personally ordered to set off, when the soldiers of the Han army lined up and drove towards the south, a light carriage suddenly came from the south, and the car was also planted with a flag on behalf of the delivery of the military emergency, Xiang Kang was not ambiguous, and immediately said to Xu Ji next to him, Xu Ji understood, and immediately sent guards to meet the carriage, and soon sent a military emergency report from Sanchuan to Xiang Kang.

This military emergency report is obviously not very important, Xiang Kang quickly read it and handed it to Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others to read, and his expression did not fluctuate, but Uncle Zhou, who happened to be in front of him, refused to rest assured, so he asked more, "King, what's the situation?" ”

"It's nothing, it's just a report that the Nanyang thief army is hoarding grain and grass in Xiangcheng and military supplies, as well as collecting ships in Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, and recruiting sailors." Xiang Kang replied casually: "If nothing else, the Nanyang thief army plans to learn the lesson of the last time this time, go upriver along the Rushui, avoid our heavily guarded Wushi Cheyuan and other places, take Liang County first, and then take advantage of the weakness to attack the area of Henan County, Xincheng, where our troops are relatively empty." ”

"Attack the new city of Henan?" Uncle Zhou, who is very good at geography, immediately heard that something was wrong and said, "How is it possible? It is true that our troops in the area of Xincheng Henan are relatively empty, but the road is relatively long, the terrain is also relatively complicated, and the Nanyang thief army has no reliable grain and grass transfer and hoarding place along the way, if we want to fight in our hinterland for a long time, how to solve the grain and grass problem? ”

Still listened to Uncle Zhou's reminder, Xiang Kang found that this situation seemed to be a little wrong, although the Nanyang Army did not go north, but Han Xin's army plus the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army also had nearly 50,000 people, and the daily consumption of grain and grass was also not a small number, from Jiaxian, Liangxian This road runs through the remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains, and directly goes north to attack the hinterland of Sanchuan County, although it is also possible, but if you want to ensure that there is no shortage of front-line military supplies, in addition to being willing to spend money, you must also recruit a large number of people to transport grain, It was also necessary to use a large number of troops to protect the grain routes.

"Could it be that the Nanyang Bandit Army wants to fight a rush war?" Zhou Shu, the old man of Shangshan next to him, put forward a possibility and said: "Bypass our heavily guarded defense line of the Gui clan, go north to Liang County and directly enter the hinterland, if you can cut off our connection with Guanzhong, you can cut it, and if you keep cutting, you will already retreat!" ”

"Impossible!" Uncle Zhou immediately shook his head and said categorically: "The purpose of the Nanyang thief army going north is to encircle Wei and save Zhao to share the pressure on the Western Chu thief army on the northern front. The Nanyang thief army went north with such fanfare and spent such a big price, and it was impossible to just bluff and run! ”

Xiang Kang frowned, and once suspected that Han Xin wanted to fight in the hinterland of Sanchuan and rob food supplies on the spot, but after thinking about it carefully, he found that it was wrong - the hinterland of Sanchuan, the main transportation route, has always been a hard-hit area affected by the war, the population is sparse, the people's livelihood is withering, and it is absolutely impossible for the people to supply Han Xin to fight in the hinterland of Sanchuan for a long time. At the same time, before that, in order to prevent the Western Chu army from dividing into the hinterland of Sanchuan, Xiang Kang had already asked the hinterland of Sanchuan County to transfer the grain as much as possible to Luoyang City, which was high and deep, and hoarded it.

This is absolutely impossible, the Han army of Sanchuan County is not a fool, seeing that the Nanyang army and the Western Chu army joined forces to go north, threatening the hinterland of Sanchuan, Qi Gill and Fu Kuan, who are currently staying in Sanchuan, will know that no matter how stupid they are, they will immediately send reinforcements to Luoyang to strengthen their troops. In the absence of a counterweight trebuchet, even Han Xin did not dare to say that he was sure to take Luoyang Jiancheng quickly.

At this time, Chen Ping next to him came up with an ingenious idea and asked Uncle Zhou: "General Zhou, since you found that the situation is wrong, if you are the commander of the Nanyang Thief Army, why do you choose to take the road of Liang County to the north and attack our rear?" ”

Uncle Zhou put himself in his shoes, but the more he calculated, the more he frowned, and he couldn't understand why he chose to take this dangerous road north if he was the commander of the Nanyang Army? Fortunately, Uncle Zhou also knew how to be flexible, and quickly calculated another point, if he took the Nanyang Army to the north on this road, what kind of changes would it cause in the battle situation? Then it didn't take long for Uncle Zhou, who was also a master of soldiers, to laugh out loud and said: "So that's the case, the Nanyang thief army is indeed cunning, on the surface, it is to send troops to attack our rear hinterland, but in fact, the real target is not our Sanchuan hinterland, but another goal!" ”

"What goal?" Xiang Kang hurriedly asked.

"King, now please put yourself in your shoes, if you were our general Lishang stationed in Hanzhong, and you saw the Nanyang thief army going north on Jialiang Road, what would you choose?" Uncle Zhou asked with a smile.

Xiang Kang didn't even blink his eyelids, just rolled his eyeballs slightly, and immediately realized that he said, "Understood!" Han Xin, that traitor, is actually luring the snake out of the hole! He deliberately took the Jialiang Road to the north, so that he could justifiably transfer a large amount of manpower and material resources from the hinterland of Nanyang to the north to transport grain, so that Li Shang felt that the hinterland of the Nanyang thief army was empty, and at the same time, seeing that the transportation of Jialiang Road was inconvenient and it was difficult to retreat, Han Xin Pifu only had a little trick, and he hoped to lure Li Shang to send troops from Wuguan and take advantage of the situation to enter the hinterland of Nanyang. ”

"Then the Nanyang Thief Army can take the opportunity to suddenly return to the division and open up their hinterland battlefield." Uncle Zhou added for Xiang Kang: "As long as this is successful, the Nanyang thief army can at least force us to draw troops from the northern front, return to the division to rescue the general Li Shang who was besieged in the hinterland of Nanyang, if you are lucky, if you can annihilate our main force in Hanzhong in the hinterland of Nanyang, then the Nanyang thief army will not only have no worries, but also hope to take advantage of the situation to kill our Hanzhong and Guanzhong, which can not only obtain huge profits, but also share the pressure more for the Western Chu thief army." ”

Xiang Kang's expression was extremely hideous, and he immediately shouted: "Xu Ji, immediately arrange fast horses and reliable messengers to send an order to Li Shang, telling him that he must not risk entering the hinterland of Nanyang, that is a strategic trap for the Nanyang thief army!" ”

Xu Ji immediately agreed, and immediately arranged for people to prepare the order, and Chen Ping next to him immediately picked up the pen and wrote an order for Xiang Kang to send a letter to Li Shang, and Zhang Liang on the other side comforted Xiang Kang and said: "Don't worry, the king, although our messenger has to make a lot of detours, but it will also take a lot of time for the Nanyang thief army to march north and design to lure General Li Shang, as well as General Li Shang's troops out of the military pass, and our messenger should have time to send the order to General Li Shang." ”

Because Han Xin hadn't had time to take action yet, Xiang Kang also nodded, admitting that there should still be time, and said to Uncle Zhou with great joy: "General Zhou, thanks to you, this time, even this king almost fell into the scheme." If we can't discover the strategic tricks of the Nanyang Thief Army in time, and Li Shang is greedy for merit and light, and is really deceived out of Wuguan by the Nanyang Thief Army, then our trouble will be more than ordinary. ”

Uncle Zhou was modest, and said: "I don't know who gave the Nanyang thief army a bad idea, attacking our hinterland, in fact, to lure our Hanzhong army into their hinterland, such a big deal is really not something that ordinary people can think of." ”

"Who else but Han Shin?" Xiang Kang replied with a bit of gritted teeth.

At this point, it stands to reason that as long as Xiang Kang's letter order is delivered to Li Shang's hands in time, this matter can be understood. However, there was an accident, at this time, Mr. Shusun on the other side came with a ghostly message, and said angrily: "It's a pity that we still have to guard against the Xichu thief army now, otherwise, our two main forces can be transferred back at will, and we can take this opportunity to destroy the Nanyang thief army!" ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, hearing Mr. Shusun's words, Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou, who were talking, suddenly stopped talking together, and turned their eyes to Mr. Shusun together, and their expressions became extremely strange. Mr. Shusun was a little flustered when he saw it, and hurriedly said: "The king forgives the sin, the subordinates don't understand military affairs, so they just said casually, if you say something wrong, please don't take it to heart." ”

Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou were silent, and after thinking for a long time, Xiang Kang suddenly said to Uncle Zhou: "General Zhou, Mr. Uncle Sun is right, this is indeed an opportunity, among our two main forces, no matter which one is transferred back, they are sure to win in front of the Nanyang Thief Army." Moreover, in order to lure us into being fooled, the Nanyang Bandit Army also deliberately exposed so many flaws, so that we have countless opportunities to catch, as long as we push the boat down the river, we will definitely be more sure to kill the Nanyang Thief Army and completely eliminate our hidden dangers on the southern front! ”

"Does the king want to go in person? Or let the ministers go down? Uncle Zhou immediately asked rhetorically.

Considering that Uncle Zhou was more familiar with the situation on the northern route than himself, and that the proud soldiers and fierce generals on the southern route and the middle route could only be suppressed if he went in person, Xiang Kang immediately replied: "I'll go!" After this king leaves, the Western Chu thief army will ask you! ”

"Please rest assured, the King." Uncle Zhou immediately saluted and replied: "After you leave, the king, if the Western Chu thief army comes straight to Julu, they will be entangled for you!" If the Western Chu thief army goes to fight Xingyang Aocang, his subordinates will immediately return to the division and block the Western Chu thief army for you! We will never let the king be distracted on the southern front and worry about our northern or middle battlefields! ”

Xiang Kang was overjoyed, personally hugged Uncle Zhou, grabbed his hands and shook them vigorously, then turned to the southwest direction of Nanyang, gritted his teeth and said: "Han Xin, Liu Laosan, you wait for me!" It's time to address you guys! ”